In the Wild

Scared Wallaby Kept Getting Stuck Deeper And Deeper In Quicksand

"I thought that during my 30 years of animal rescue work, I had been called to every rescue scenario imaginable," Manfred Zabinskas, co-owner of Five Freedoms Animal Rescue (FFAR) in Australia, wrote on Sunday. "But on Saturday, I added a new one to that list — quicksand."

Even once the noose was in place, it required a massive amount of strength to pull the wallaby free from the quicksand.

"[It] required considerable force to break the suction of the mud," Zabinskas wrote. "The wallaby was completely coated in the black sludge and he was exhausted. He was trembling through a combination of fear and hypothermia and I took him home for an urgent cleanup."

Rescuers decided to name their newest patient in their wildlife hospital Gerry. "After Gerry Rafferty, one of the writers of 'Stuck in the Middle with You,'" Zabinskas explained. "And because he is a bit of a geriatric."

The rescue organization takes its name from the five freedoms it believes animals are entitled to: Freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from discomfort; freedom to express normal behavior; and freedom from hunger and thirst.

Thanks to these kind people, Gerry got his life back — and his freedoms, too.